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Instructional Support Committee |
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Attending: Al Lacson, David Cook-Martin, Karen Shuman, Rebecca Stuhr, Leslie Gregg-Jolly, Mark Schneider, Bill Francis, Matt Kluber, Terri Phipps, Chris Davis (STAC), Kramer McLuckie (SGA), John Kalkbrenner, Alex White (SGA Student Environmental Committee), Dylan Sather (SGA Technical Advisor) Minutes of October 7 approved. Marci Sortor has been invited to the November 18 ISC meeting. She and Richard Fyffe will give an update on campus planning, specifically relating to how campus spaces are used and supported. ITS and printing, Bill Francis Bill Francis reported that paper usage for public printing has steadily increased over time, and now totals about two million copies per year. Cost and waste associated with this high volume of printing is a concern. ITS has helped reduce waste by using recycled paper, by setting printers to default to duplex printing, and by recycling ink cartridges. It was noted by both faculty and students that print jobs were often not picked up from printers or were immediately placed in the recycle bin because an updated copy had been printed. Various options are being explored to help with this concern. Some peer colleges use a charge-back system in which students are allowed a set number of copies per semester/year. Printing above that set number incurs a charge. These charge-back systems cost $50,000-$60,000. Printers connected to this type of system have a card-reader attached that allows the person printing to either approve or cancel their own print jobs. Print jobs stay in the queue for 24 hours and do not block other print jobs from printing. One issue is that MACs do not authenticate users, so print jobs will not be identifiable by user. A log-in feature would need to be added to MACs that print to public printers. Typical rates for charge-back systems are 5-8 cents per page, depending on whether the printing is single- or double-sided. Different rates could be applied for color or black and white copies. About 2 cents per page helps defray costs of consumables and equipment deterioration. Given those rates and the current usage on campus, it would take 2-3 years to recover the cost of a charge-back system, should one be purchased. The cost to students is a concern. Some courses now rely heavily on e-reserves. This shift has eased the cost to students from having to buy books or course packets, but places the cost of printing on the college. Some students use the Scan feature on photocopiers to scan materials to print later, saving them the cost of the photocopy, but placing the print cost on the college. Students in attendance voiced concern over having a print quota—some courses, and some majors, require more printing, whether it is from e-reserves, online journals, or other forms of online research. It is not clear how or if printing charges will affect financial aid. The students were asked how they perceive student habits of reading materials online vs in hard copy. General agreement was that students typically print materials rather than reading online. Hard copies are used in class for reference, for making notes in margins, for reading when a monitor is not available, and as a sense of "safety"—having a hard copy in case the electronic version is lost or unavailable. Dylan distributed "A Student's Perspective on Student Printing." In it, he recommends that the financial impact of printing charges be weighed carefully against egalitarian values held by Grinnellians.Student printing comprises about 5% of the printing on campus. He suggests that the college consider solutions like Econofont, which can save about 20% on toner, and encourage users to print not only double-sided, but two pages to a side when possible. If the College goes to a charge-back system, fees and quotas—and their impact on student finances—should be thoughtfully considered to help avoid having a negative impact on the student's academic work. Students may be less likely to print articles if they have to pay for them. Dylan noted that one school he researched used a charge-back system and reduced their printing volume. After a time, this school stopped charging for copies, and the printing volume did not rise. Suggestions to consider:
Respectfully submitted, |